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Fans have criticized former England coach Gareth Southgate after winger Anthony Gordon pulled off an impressive performance against the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Nations League. The match ended in a 2-0 victory for the Three Lions on September 7, at Aviva Stadium.
England opened their scoring with Declan Rice's goal just 11 minutes into the clash. Gordon got on the end of an excellent ball from Trent Alexander-Arnold but was unable to beat the goalkeeper. It eventually fell to Rice, who scored. Jack Grealish doubled the score for the Three Lions with an assist from the Arsenal midfielder in the 26th minute.
Meanwhile, Gordon had three shots in the game, missed one big chance, completed 27/30 passes, created one big chance, and won 4/5 duels. was replaced by Eberechi Eze in the 77th minute.
Gareth Southgate received a lot of criticism with respect to his management style for England's run in the Euro 2024. The Three Lions were defeated by Spain in this year's European Championship final, and many argued that the former head coach was responsible for it.
Fans flooded social media with posts blaming Southgate after watching Anthony Gordon's display in England's match against the Republic of Ireland. The Everton graduate had made only four appearances for his nation under Southgate's management, playing for a total of 151 minutes. He played for just one minute at Euro 2024.
Some fans online heaped praise on the Newcastle United forward. Meanwhile, some pointed out Southgate's mistakes of not using the right players on the pitch, while others faulted him for the Three Lions' Euro 2024 loss. Here are some of their reactions from X (formerly Twitter):
"I’ve not seen any of the England game but sounds like Trent and Gordon had an absolutely unreal game? Southgate started Walker & Trippier over him for so long ffs. Trent playing diagonal passes over the top into Gordon could have been an absolute cheat code at the Euro’s ffs."
"Anthony Gordon looks electric so far. Should have scored in the run up to England's opener, giving Ireland all sorts of problems. So baffling he played 120 seconds in the summer"
"Anthony Gordon best player on the pitch for England in the 0-2 win over Ireland. Showing exactly what we missed at the euros this summer - a natural winger, getting in behind, causing problems, dynamic and providing balance for the team. #england #nufc," chimed in another fan.
"Just the seven minutes it took for Anthony Gordon to show what England were missing on the left flank at the Euros… 😅 #NUFC"
"Southgate completely misused Gordon this summer," tweeted another.
"Proud of and pleased for Morgan. Would be more than happy to see Kelleher in a Forest shirt. Anthony Gordon should have had more time in the Euros!"
While another wrote:
"anthony gordon is one of the biggest litmus tests for if you know ball, if you watched that game and took away that people like “rashford and sterling” are better you don’t know ball and football isn’t the sport for you"
Following the win against the Republic of Ireland, the Three Lions are pitted against Finland in the 2024 UEFA Nations League on September 10, at Wembley Stadium.
Harry Kane on Euro 2024 disappointment ahead of England's UEFA Nations League clash
Harry Kane opened up Euro 2024 before their UEFA Nations League clash against Republic of Ireland. Addressing the Three Lions' heartbreaking loss in the final against Spain, the Bayern Munich striker said (via BBC Sport):
"It's tough whenever you get so close to reaching one of the pinnacles of your career and it's taken away. It makes me even more motivated. It puts the fire in the belly to try and get there. Our task is to get better."
The English captain also spoke about the end of Gareth Southgate's managerial tenure, and the start of Lee Carsley's interim spell in charge and said:
"It felt a little bit strange when we first came into camp. The boss has his own ideas and identity. We did a lot of good things with Gareth but ultimately the new coach has fresh ideas. It's been good."
The Three Lions have not lifted the UEFA Nations League trophy as of yet. They ended up in third place in 2019.
